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In the southern Province of Guangxi, amidst the turmoil of the Taiping Rebellion and the Opium War, a woman is kidnapped and her husband shipped out to Singapore as indentured labour. This is a moving story of the scourge of opium and one man's plight and rise in fortune in British Malaya.
A strong story line... (this book) takes us from the turbulence of a China unmercifully exploited with opium by the western powers in Victorian times, to the race and clan rivalries of an emerging Singapore and Malaya. The refinement and the thuggery of China alike, the bustle of Singapore and the tropical potential of Malaya in those days are all made to feel familiar rather than foreign, the high emotions to be shared rather than differentiate us. The characters are entirely believable, the degree of background colour is perfectly judged and the pace seductive.
A strong story line... (this book) takes us from the turbulence of a China unmercifully exploited with opium by the western powers in Victorian times, to the race and clan rivalries of an emerging Singapore and Malaya. The refinement and the thuggery of China alike, the bustle of Singapore and the tropical potential of Malaya in those days are all made to feel familiar rather than foreign, the high emotions to be shared rather than differentiate us. The characters are entirely believable, the degree of background colour is perfectly judged and the pace seductive.